Gateway to Paradise

IMAGINE a ring of solar-powered light hovering over each of the two main intersections in Notting Hill Gate. The brain-children of Italo-American artist Dante Leonelli, these eco halos would not only illuminate and poeticise the urban skyline but, activated by strategically placed sensors, would also monitor the degree of traffic congestion and pollution in the area.

Depending on the level of carbon-monoxide exhaust fumes in the atmosphere, the halos would change colour from white through green and turquoise to red.

This project, a happy amalgam of the pleasing with the practical and currently awaiting planning permission, is the latest in a long line of forward-looking initiatives undertaken by the Notting Hill Gate lmprovements Group (NHIG). Cofounded in 1993 by John Scott, a former Oxford University rugby blue now in his sixties, the group has been the driving force behind many of the dramatic improvements witnessed in the area over the past eight years. It is its vision, energy and determination in the face of public apathy and blinkered bureaucracy that have been the catalyst for transforming Notting Hill Gate into one of the most commercially desirable and residentially fashionable areas of the metropolis.

Commercial tenants of the calibre of Tom Conran, Paul Smith, Agnès B, Dinny Hall, Lulu Guinness and Ralph Lauren do not simply turn up and revive an area overnight. Top-quality brands like these must be attracted in the first place and the Notting Hill Gate of yesteryear would not have been an obvious destination. Less than a decade ago, Notting Hill Gate was still an area better known for race riots, drug-dealing, Rachmanesque extortion, tired trade-only antique shops and horrible Sixties concrete developments. Indeed, after a succession of explosive, crime-ridden carnivals, Notting Hill Gate had as much hope of achieving premier-league fashion-mecca status as Bolton Wanderers had of winning the Uefa Cup. And yet, within a period of 10 years, rundown stretches of Westbourne Grove and Ledbury Road have blossomed into a shopper's and gourmet's paradise. The sad old slapper that was Notting Hill Gate has undergone a radical face-lift. Thanks to a series of simple and focused initiatives, NHIG has set in motion a programme of urban regeneration. "And to think," says Scott wistfully, "that it all began with lavatories."

In 1983, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea had earmarked £92,000 to refurbish Westbourne Grove's spectacularly ugly, jerry-built public lavatories. After an inspection of the plans, however, Scott soon realised that the new-look lavs would be just as unattractive as the previous pissoir. "We asked the council to let us create something beautiful as well as practical," says Scott. "We enlisted the help of architect Piers Gough, who came up with a stunning design. His plan involved a quality building with an integrated florist's kiosk that would generate rental income for the council. The whole area would be landscaped with shrubs and trees and finished in York stone with a clock and rest benches. The vision was that this haven would become a focal point for the area."

The council agreed to Scott's plan on the understanding that the balance of funding would come from other sources. NHIG was founded and the celebrated Westbourne Grove lavatories project won national and international acclaim, including the Jeu d'Esprit award in 1994 from the Royal Fine Art Commission. "To get things done, you need someone, even just one person, with energy and vision," says Scott. "After that, it's essential to round-up allies. When you set up a group like ours, it's always helpful to have a few, good councillors on board because they know how the town-hall machinery works. If you can cajole an architect into giving a hand, that's also very useful. A few sketches from a good architect are worth a thousand words when it comes to explaining a project. Then, ideally, you need representatives from the local trading associations to add their weight and ideas.

We're lucky in NHIG because about 60 per cent of commercial property in Notting Hill Gate, mainly the 1960s buildings, belongs to Land Securities Properties Ltd. As good landlords, they realise that whatever improves the environment generally will help them to secure and retain good tenants and so they've been very supportive of NHIG projects over the years. Any group trying to make improvements in an area should make the major landlords an early port of call. Then, once your local council sees you are determined to make a difference for the better, you'll find they're usually quite happy to meet you halfway."

THE inspirational Piers Gough is currently coordinating NHIG's million-pound public art project with Dante Leonelli and other artists in a scheme to design works which will further improve the Gate and thereby increase civic pride and awareness. In addition to the eco haloes, ideas under consideration are a central clock, improved signage and a colour scheme to brighten up those drab, concrete Sixties buildings.

The breadth of NHIG's vision and the scale of its achievements may seem daunting to any group seeking to emulate its activities, but great oaks have grown, almost literally, from small acorns. "Before NHIG was officially founded," says Scott, "we used to lobby for tree-planting schemes. Everyone loves trees, they're relatively cheap to plant and can very swiftly change the entire look and feel of an area. After that, simple improvements like new paving, decent litter bins and attractive Harrington railings in place of aluminium have a tremendously positive effect. Good commercial tenants arrive and then they themselves set about upgrading properties, signage and frontage." Scott might have added that local residents also benefit from a cleaner, greener and generally more gracious environment in this win-win situation.

Like all successful activists, however, the NHIG is not the sort of organisation to rest on its laurels. The public lavatories at Notting Hill Tube station are to be closed on 31 March. Due to its proximity to Portobello Road market, Notting Hill is one of London's busiest Underground stations and, for more than five years, NHIG has been urging London Underground to embrace its own scheme, which would involve the creation of something similar to the Westbourne Grove project on the condemned site. If NHIG's plans were to be successful, the hundreds of thousands of tourists and commuters who pass through Notting Hill Tube station would benefit from refurbished and fragrance-filled public amenities funded by two high-class integrated kiosks that would generate an estimated £30,000 in rent for London Underground.

It is hardly surprising that an Underground service that is already a contradiction in terms, sees no reason to provide relief in any department for its hard-pressed passengers and, after five years of wrangling and prevarication, it has finally rejected the NHIG project. Not a man to take rejection lying down, however, John Scott has enlisted the support of local MP Michael Portillo and is threatening an ominously termed "direct-action campaign" to keep the lavatories alive. To judge by the NHIG's track record, London Underground may be about to meet its Waterloo.